From ‘Smash’ to ‘Newsroom’ – TV’s Worst of 2012 from The Fien Print

If you’ve listened to the Worst of 2012 Firewall & Iceberg Podcast that posted on Monday afternoon, you’ve heard several of these rants already and you also probably heard the rules that I set for my “Worst” lists.

The most important rule is that in order for a show to make my “Worst” list, I have to actually watch it. There’s no point in me telling you that “Dance Moms” is awful, because what do I know? I’ve watched 10 minutes of “Dance Moms.” That’s not enough.

It’s also not enough for me to have hated a pilot. The “Beauty and the Beast” pilot was the worst hour of TV that I watched in 2012, but five minutes into the second episode, I gave up. I understand that some of my colleagues don’t play by these rules, but I’ve seen too many shows start off with awful pilots and then improve. “Neighbors” and “Chicago Fire” both were listed among my Worst New Shows of 2012. I kept watching “Neighbors” enough to see that it’s an average and inoffensive comedy, not good enough for me to keep watching after four-ish episodes, but probably not bad enough to include in this gallery. And I actually found myself somewhat liking “Chicago Fire” after the first handful of episodes. It’s not great, but it has a season pass on my DVR and I watch episodes while I’m folding laundry or building galleries like this one.

Sometimes networks help me keep their shows in this gallery. If “Work It” had aired a full season, there’s no chance I’d have watched it for long enough to justify its inclusion, but because ABC pulled the cross-dressing alleged comedy after the two episodes I watched, it has a place of dishonor here. CBS did roughly the same with “Partners,” pulling the Monday dud just as it became too unbearable for me to watch.

Most of these are shows that I watch because I used to like them or shows that I regularly watch because they’re simply too central to the ongoing dialogue in the industry that I cover for me to quit on them. And some of them are shows that I made sufficient commitment to that I figured I might as well see them to the end.

There are three shows making repeat appearances from my Worst of 2011 Gallery. But there’s only one show that’s made my Worst Of… lists three years running.

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Wow your blog is horrible. Your personal views are not critiques of shows. You should learn to write an actual critique.

By: dan

12.26.2012 @ 6:36 AM

KG – Actually, my personal views are completely critiques of shows. But I’m glad, at least, that I’m impressed you with my need for learning and I try to learn more every day…

-Daniel

By: Damien

12.26.2012 @ 9:46 AM

If you’re actually going to critique shows and blog on hitfix don’t you think it’s necessary to watch more than just a strata of your favourite shows. Also you seem quite set in defending your words repeatedly instead of standing on your “article” (if a small string of words really demands such a description).

To me, the constant defence means you lack confidence in it or you are so myopic & self righteous you stand pissing in the wind thinking its a misty day.

Come on Daniel, if you watch True Blood and suddenly have issues with blood and dead vamps into season 5 mayhaps you should stop reviewing television altogether. Not the brightest crayon on the box, are we?

By: Erika Herzog

12.26.2012 @ 1:36 PM

WOW. the comments section is like a train wreck of ridiculousness.

i am not really sure what’s up with all of the h8rs — yeah, i went there! — but Daniel please ignore these idiots. this is why the internet can be such a nightmare: dumb people. sigh….

i loved your list. anyone who follows your writing and podcasting here knows you are an excellent writer. i grew up with Pauline Kael’s reviews. i want the kind of opinions and thoughts both you and Alan have — if i wanted recaps i would go to another website.

by the way, i’m so glad you’re talking about the difference between a bad pilot and a bad show. i love Chicago Fire for all of its guilty pleasures but thank god the pilot was just the start.

as someone who also watches a lot of TV i get why your list is the way it is. the only thing i find disturbing is that you’ve actually watched 10 minutes of Dance Moms!

.

By: CinemaPsycho

12.26.2012 @ 6:39 AM

I’m just wondering, have you ever seen Criminal Minds? How and why does that stay on the air? Who’s watching rapists, child molesters and serial killers being chased by one-dimensional FBI agents every week? How do people stand it??

By: dan

12.26.2012 @ 6:43 AM

CinemaPsycho – “Criminal Minds” would ALWAYS be among my choices as the worst show on TV, except that I’m mostly able to avoid watching more than an episode or two per year. I few years ago I watched a handful of episodes and counted that as enough to put it on my Worst Of… list. But I didn’t this year. But I agree that “Criminal Minds” is dreary and exploitative… And some people LOVE it.

-Daniel

By: Chris

12.26.2012 @ 7:29 AM

This is terrible writing. How could you possibly call The Newsroom the worst when you don’t even include Honey Boo Boo in this list? In order to make a list like this, you need to dig a little deeper in to what the actual “horrible” shows are. The Newsroom is far from it. Based on this horrendous article, I will NEVER read one of your articles again. And even more so, I want to know how this even got published on this site. The person in charge should be embarrassed.

By: dan

12.26.2012 @ 7:48 AM

Chris – I’m going to assume this is a joke comment. If so… HA!

-Daniel

By: Chris

12.26.2012 @ 8:49 AM

No Dan, not a joke. Your writing is terrible and doesn’t include the REAL worst of the year. How can you be taken seriously when you don’t include the obviously bad shows? You didn’t even look as far as Honey Boo Boo. But, I’m glad I gave you a laugh because your writing is a literal joke. This article doesn’t nearly touch on the bad things that are passed off as television. If you think How I Met Your Mother, The Newsroom and True Blood are the worst, I think you need to take a cold hard look at the real crap that’s out there. Now, I’m laughing at your expense. Sorkin would write circles around you any day.

By: M

12.26.2012 @ 4:52 PM

Chris, go back and read the first page where he explains his criteria. I actually love Dan’s approach. I avoid shows like “Honey Boo Boo” and “Dance Moms” like the plague because I know they’re awful. But watching shows I once enjoyed (like “HIMYM” or “True Blood”) or that involve people I generally like (Aaron Sorkin or Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a lot more painful because I keep wanting and expecting them to be good when they’re just not.

By: Mary

12.26.2012 @ 11:24 PM

I think you need to look up the definition of “terrible writing”.

And yeah, um I don’t think “the person in charge” is at all embarrassed.

By: Not Chris

12.27.2012 @ 3:06 AM

Is Chris short for Aaron Sorkin or just idiot.

By: CHRIS

12.27.2012 @ 3:10 AM

If you think this is good writing, you are proof positive absolute ignorance. The Newsroom has been nominated for tons of awards including the Golden Globes. How could this possibly be considered the worst? I’m sure this Dan fellow has some political agenda in his hatred for the show. Get a life and learn to write. Your dreadful list is blatant proof as to why people think Americans are so dumb. You make a worst of list and include some of the best shows on TV. This equates to idiocy.

By: YourMomTastesGood

12.27.2012 @ 3:15 AM

NOT CHRIS, I think Sorkin is busy writing circles around Dan right now.

By: dan

12.27.2012 @ 3:21 AM

Chris – When you resort to using the Golden Globes to support your argument, you’ve already lost. Unless you’re a MASSIVE Jennifer Love Hewitt fan as well… Not that there’d be anything wrong with that.

-Daniel

By: Amanda

12.27.2012 @ 3:57 AM

The Golden Globes nominated Smash this year and snubbed Mad Men. Let’s not use them as a standard of good taste please.

By: CHRIS

12.27.2012 @ 5:07 AM

I’ve never seen Smash, so I really can’t comment on that show. But, I know that Mad Men has been a Golden Globe darling for the last several years. This year was the worst season of that show, and I’m a hardcore fan. So, your assumption that they were “snubbed” is completely invalid. If they had never been nominated I may see your point, but the same show can’t always win.

By: Mike

12.26.2012 @ 7:35 AM

I disagree about “Newsroom” and “How I Met your Mother” to a degree. I do think that sometimes they do things in HIMYM that don’t make sense with the characters but they tend to answer it later with those “ah-ha” moments, but they probably rely on that too often now. As for Ted I never felt he was that likable anyways. Even with the disagreements your article was well written and you gave clear examples of why you thought they were the worst shows. Nice job!

By: dan

12.26.2012 @ 7:50 AM

Mike – I don’t know that I ever loved Ted, but when he was with Victoria and early in his relationship with Robin and even in his time with Stella before that went bad, I didn’t actively want him to be unhappy and I probably even rooted for his happiness… I don’t do that anymore. Alas.

And thank you for disagreeing in a reasonable way and not just calling me names!

-Daniel

By: Mindslicer

12.26.2012 @ 7:35 AM

Wow I completely agree with KG here. These are not critiques of shows, this is just you saying how bad you think every show is. I most certainly will not waste another moment on your blog it should be called ” The shows I never watched or watched 10mins of show and decided I should be the critic to rate even though I have no experience”. Many of these shows you claim to be the worst of 2012 were actually some of the highest rated shows on tv. But since you watched 10mins of a show you think you can rate an entire season based on that? You should be ashamed for even writing this crap, you have absolutely no business writing a blog like this. This is literally the worst “critique” I’ve ever read, an yes its in quotes on purpose.

Final Grade: F-

By: dan

12.26.2012 @ 7:46 AM

Mindslicer – Huh? Not only am I absolutely certain that each blurb says why I think the shows are the worst, but the intro to the gallery, the page you’re commenting on, makes it VERY clear that the major prerequisite for a show being in this gallery is that I watch it. Other than an episode or two of “Partners” and some hours of Olympics coverage, I believe I watched every second of every show in this gallery.

And while some of these are, indeed, decently rated shows, some were also horribly rated. That has nothing to do with quality.

-Daniel

By: danny

12.26.2012 @ 7:40 AM

lol this is pathetic

By: Dan

12.26.2012 @ 7:47 AM

I though Smash was one of the best new shows in a long time.
This critic is just another Media Whore.

By: dan

12.26.2012 @ 7:51 AM

Dan – Or I’m just somebody with a different opinion from yours… So it goes…

-Daniel

By: Alan Smithee

12.26.2012 @ 8:09 AM

This is actually a poorly conceived blog. Who on this planet thought you were a good writer. This is nothing but a series of personal opinions and biases. Off the record, writing off smash and glee is the stupidest thing you have done apart from writing this article, speaking and watching television

By: sandra

12.26.2012 @ 9:13 AM

For the last time, there is no record.

By: Amanda

12.26.2012 @ 6:13 PM

Are you kidding? Glee has been UNBEARABLE. Go watch season 1 again and you’ll see how far it’s fallen. And I loved smash for a time, but it bitterly disappointed me.

By: Hatfield

12.26.2012 @ 11:29 PM

“Off the record, writing off smash and glee is the stupidest thing you have done apart from writing this article, speaking and watching television”

I haven’t gotten to the end yet, but so far this is my favorite!

By: John

12.26.2012 @ 8:13 AM

OK so I agree with some of your list but I do have to say that True Blood and Newsroom Should be taken off the list. Both of these shows were not the worst or horrible i would say they were average or a little above average for a cable drama. Now I would say you should have shows Like Honey Boo Boo and also shows that were destined to be the worst like i don’t know MOB DOCTOR

By: Sandra

12.26.2012 @ 9:08 AM

Everything here is on point. Love it. As for the comments, to quote the great Kevin Gnapoor: “Don’t let the haters stop you from doing your thang”

By: Joe

12.26.2012 @ 9:49 AM

Now Sandra if you think Kevin Gnapoor was great, I suggest buying a toaster and taking a bath we need not hear from you again.

By: Sandra

12.26.2012 @ 12:29 PM

Dear Joe,

Only if you promise to jump off the tallest building first. That way we can leave this world in a true star-crossed lovers fashion, obviously what we were destined for! We’ll be the modern day internet equivalent of R and J! Please say yes!

By: That Werewolf Guy

12.26.2012 @ 9:16 AM

My personal worst of the year was AMERICAN HORROR STORY. I didn’t watch season 1, so maybe this one is better, but I gave up on season 2 after 3 episodes. (Which is pretty unique for me, because usually I give every show at least a half season.) It was just lots of random shit happening, filmed in the most hyperactive way this side of CRANK, and I didn’t care for any of it. Seriously, how do you make a show about posessed nuns, serial killers, zombies and ALIEN ABDUCTION completely boring and unengaging? The people behind AHS found a way.

By: Greg

12.26.2012 @ 10:03 PM

“filmed in the most hyperactive way this side of CRANK”

That’s the Ryan Murphy way of filming. I find his shows to be among the worst ones ever directed on TV. Everything’s always so over directed, with that shaky camera which doesn’t stop moving for a fucking second, those God awful zooms,… it’s just so unelegant it becomes unbearable to watch for mere five seconds. It’s sad that he thinks that absolutely every aspect on his shows must be over the top.

By: Geri

12.26.2012 @ 10:21 AM

IMHO after the first two episodes Partners became a more decent show than all the other Monday CBS shows. I’m going to miss it. I still want to check out Smash for myself but I will continue to avoid the Newsroom based on what I’ve heard.

By: rose

12.26.2012 @ 12:45 PM

wow, people really take TV personally! I appreciate you only commenting on shows that you’ve actually given time to – and when you’ve taken the time to watch every episode of a show, it really smarts when it turns into a load of crud! (I’m looking at you, HIMYM!!)

cute article; well written.

By: Karel

12.26.2012 @ 2:19 PM

Seriously? Uf…no, sorry. Wrong web. I thought I am at respectable page, but I clicked wrong.

By: dan

12.26.2012 @ 4:26 PM

Commenter Damien is Right – Well, not about the fact that I need to watch more TV shows so that I hate more of the shows that he hates. And not about the “True Blood” thing. And not about my my defending myself means a lack of self-confidence…

But if I’m gonna dish it, I should also probably sit back and take it from the unhappy commenters…

Apologies to any hostile commenters to home I responded to with in-kind hostility last night…

Go nuts…

-Daniel

By: Hatfield

12.26.2012 @ 11:32 PM

So I missed some awesome replies from you? Stupid Christmas!

By: Erika Herzog

12.27.2012 @ 6:25 PM

i don’t think Damien is Right. this is a load of hooey.

and you were amazingly good-natured about the whole thing in the face of a lot of name-calling and stupidity. truly.

.

By: rerun

12.26.2012 @ 4:40 PM

You can’t discuss the worst shows with mentioning Small Town Security. The fact that AMC followed Breaking Bad with STS shows the brilliant minds in charge of that network.

By: rerun

12.26.2012 @ 4:41 PM

I meant “without mentioning”.

By: AM7

12.26.2012 @ 5:30 PM

Dan – Glee has not gotten better, it might be the worst show on right now with the likes of 90210 (yea that bad). For your sanity, don’t watch.

By: Checko

12.26.2012 @ 5:49 PM

”But never TV. He would sound stupid talking about TV.”

By: Broseph

12.26.2012 @ 6:08 PM

Favorite lines from this review:

Like Forrest Gump’s buddy Bubba describing the myriad applications for shrimp, “True Blood” was working its way through a sampler tray of vampire slaughter.

Why was it that the time-delayed structure served to make all of his characters seem so darned prescient and ahead-of-the-curve when it came to the morals and ethics of journalism, but they still approached email and blogs and twitter like time travelers from the French Revolution?

— I gave up on True Blood two episodes into the new season. Not even my housemates, who watched it passionately in the past and currently think American Horror Story is the best show on television (besides Hoarders) could keep going.

I actually liked Newsroom, though it didn’t come close to the other HBO options, and while it was toadying to the choir (the one I’m a member of), and maybe a little tired with some it’s references (Hello Hitfix trolls!), I still enjoyed watching it,

By: M

12.26.2012 @ 6:12 PM

Dan, I know you said you’re gonna stop responding, but I hope you will respond to this one.

On the podcast you mentioned GCB as one of the worst of the year. I didn’t disagree with some of your criticisms, but I still really enjoyed the show. The one thing I do disagree about was that ABC actually gave the show a chance. In my opinion, the show’s failure is largely due to ABC’s ineptitude.

First, you mentioned the network giving the show a great time slot by scheduling it after Desperate Housewives. That may have sounded good in theory, but by the time GCB premiered, DH’s ratings were in the toilet. GCB’s premiere was considered a flop because it only attracted 7.6 million viewers. Meanwhile, Pan Am’s premiere in that slot was considered a success because it debuted to 11 million viewers. But the day of Pan Am’s premiere, DH attracted 10.11 million viewers. The day of GCB’s premiere, DH’s ratings were all the way down to 8.16 million viewers. And, despite strong lead-in numbers, Pan Am’s second episode was all the way down to 7.75 million viewers–so its “successful premiere” was heavily bolstered by ABC’s massive marketing campaign. Which leads me to my next point: ABC’s marketing for GCB was AWFUL. First and foremost was the title. I cannot tell you how many people I heard ask “What does GCB mean?” It’s a terrible title for a show, but ABC’s marketing also gave you NO HINT what it meant or what the show was even really about. That was driven home by the print ads, which only showed Kristin Chenoweth in church robes. Chenoweth is fairly well-known, but not so well-known that a show should be sold based on her presence alone. And given that it was an ensemble show and Chenoweth was only a supporting player, wouldn’t it have made sense to actually feature the rest of the cast and not make it seem like “The Kristin Chenoweth Show?” I think if the show had premiered in the fall with a big marketing push, it could have been a hit. But by throwing it on the air in March when DH’s audience was minuscule and with the world’s worst promotion, the show was pretty much destined to fail from the start.

By: dan

12.26.2012 @ 6:23 PM

M – It’s only the hostility I’m not responding to! I’d agree with you that certain parts of the marketing on “GCB” — particularly the title — were dreadful. Some of those marketing problems were ABC’s fault and some were the fault of the show for not really understanding its tone well enough to give ABC the clear hook. Regarding the power of the “Desperate Housewives” lead-in/audience I’d disagree, though. “Pan Am” premiered well, but it failed because obviously people didn’t like the show and they left. If it had retained, it would have been a smash. If “GCB” had retained the “DH” audience, even as low as it was by March, ABC would have been over-the-moon, even if that meant averaging 7 million viewers per week. ABC wasn’t looking for something unrealistic. The network wasn’t looking for something like “Desperate Housewives” in its prime or even “Desperate Housewives” at the start of the season. Had “Pan Am” held its premiere audience, it would still be around today. Had “GCB” held its premiere audience, even if that was considered a flop at the time, I guarantee the show would be back today. It didn’t plummet nearly as much as “Pan Am” did, obviously, but it plummeted enough for ABC to feel no reason to stand behind it…

-Daniel

By: M

12.26.2012 @ 6:59 PM

I understand what you’re saying, Dan. But I also think expecting GCB to hold its audience when it was reported that it had “flopped” would have been pretty much impossible. I guarantee there are a large number of people who tuned out or didn’t tune in at all because they didn’t want to get invested in something that was reported as DOA. Happy Endings’ first season had an even bigger premiere to finale drop than GCB did and I didn’t tune in at all that spring because I assumed it would be canceled that May. But ABC stood behind the show and I checked it out over the summer and haven’t missed an episode since. Granted, that show hasn’t turned into a big success, but it’s certainly not for lack of trying on ABC’s part. With GCB they didn’t even try.

By: M

12.26.2012 @ 7:13 PM

Also, I don’t work in marketing, but the posters featured the tagline “Love Thy Neighbor.” How about just making that the title of the show? And instead of just showing Kristin Chenoweth in a church robe, maybe show the entire cast standing in front of a church with a Texas flag prominently displayed and Leslie Bibb and Kristin Chenoweth trying to strangle each other. That would have told you right upfront that the show involved Texas, religion, and a good dose of camp. It shouldn’t have been THAT hard to sell.

By: dan

12.26.2012 @ 7:26 PM

M – I’d only quibble with the “perception” issue. I can’t speak for any of my colleagues who report on ratings, but I certainly didn’t say the premiere flopped. I said it was “So-So” in my headline, which sounds about right. And ABC really thought it had a “flyover” hit with that one, i.e. a hit with people who don’t pay attention to ratings at all, much less with people who let their viewership be steered by the perception caused by ratings.

I agree totally, though, that there were clearly ways it could have or should have been promoted better…

So it goes!

-Daniel

By: Rev. Slappy

12.26.2012 @ 6:16 PM

Wow. Normally I’d have to go to Nikki Finke’s site to read a comments section with this many asinine responses. The Hitflix discourse is usually several notches above this. “These are not critiques of shows, this is just you saying how bad you think every show is.” You were expecting glowing endorsements from a gallery dedicated to the worst shows of 2012? Does anybody understand how criticism works?

By: Erika Herzog

12.27.2012 @ 6:27 PM

good one @Rev. Slappy! i’m laughing here….

By: HISLOCAL

12.31.2012 @ 5:55 PM

Yeah this is such a bizarro-Hitfix comment section. Maybe this post was linked to another outlet or something? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hitfix peeps so viciously defending hot crap like True Blood season 5 or Smash.

By: Amanda

12.26.2012 @ 6:17 PM

Wow, these commenters are rude! And obviously not regulars here. Anyways, I enjoyed your list. However, Glee has not rebounded in the least. There have been some moments, but the show is a caricature of its early days. Thank you for including GG – it was so embarrassing to watch this year, but I had to see it through.

By: Oliver

12.26.2012 @ 7:42 PM

I wonder where these unpleasant and hostile commenters have come from. It seems pretty clear that the page has been linked from somewhere with a vicious, nasty userbase.

It seems like a fairly uncontroversial list to me.

By: dan

12.26.2012 @ 10:35 PM

Next year? More controversy! Maybe I’ll hate something edgy like “Honey Boo-Boo.” Then I’d make a few of these folks happy… I wonder if *they* watch “Honey Boo Boo.” I somehow doubt it…

-Daniel

By: HISLOCAL

12.31.2012 @ 5:59 PM

It makes me strangely happy to think of an online community somewhere that pores over each episode of Honey Boo Boo, resulting in 5 pages of insights and theories, like our community does for Breaking Bad or Mad Men.

By: chuckie

01.01.2013 @ 7:59 PM

I figured it was one person posting under multiple names.

By: Cousin Larry Appleton

12.26.2012 @ 8:22 PM

Wow these commenters are the worst. The biggest fallacy would be the “you don’t even watch all of the episodes!” criticism.
Of all the critics I follow, Dan is the most diligent (masochistic?) when it comes to sticking with shows that they’re lukewarm, or worse, on. The fact that certain commenters don’t know this, seems to show that they don’t follow any of your numerous articles or podcasts. So what brought them here in the first place? Bizarre…

By: dan

12.26.2012 @ 10:36 PM

Cousin Larry – When in doubt, I blame Google… But I guess hate-traffic is still traffic. Probably why somebody up there called me a “media whore”…

-Daniel

By: belinda

12.27.2012 @ 4:30 PM

Yeah, no kidding. Sometimes I wonder how Fienberg manages to stick with some of the shows he continues to watch, that’s dedication man.

But yeah, the comments in this post seem far more vicious than I’ve ever seen on hitfix before. Odd.

By: chuckie

01.01.2013 @ 8:00 PM

Probably he was brought here through an ad that aggregates links to galleries. I see those ads on all kinds of blogs, including Hitifix.

By: War Chief Shake Zula

12.26.2012 @ 9:02 PM

I’d trash this list just to trash, but I really have no objections whatsoever. Other than the fact that…well…I object to my lack of objections.

By: ideemo

12.26.2012 @ 9:07 PM

lol these comments are AMAZING! Keep up the good work, Daniel

By: Star

12.26.2012 @ 9:29 PM

Isn’t the idea of a critque based on a person’s opinion anyways? I don’t get the hostility in the comments at all. If we all had the same opinon what would be the need in having these types of blogs in the first place.

I agree with you on most of these, but I still do find HIMYM fairly entertaining, but I agree they need to get on the ball about revealing something, anything bc the mother is going to be so anticlimatic the way its going. lol

You will always be a favorite of mine for calling GG on its crap for the Chuck Bass character, and b/c Josh Schwartz follows you I believe it gives me joy to know it annoys him when people do that. :) I am nice that way, but since he and Savage seem to be obsessed with Chuck Bass its nice to know not everyone fell for their manipulative way of trying to get people to root for him. Chair is the grossest relationship EVER, on ANY show.

I gave up True Blood, never watched Smash, never watched Ringer past the first ep, I wanted to like it for SMG but just couldn’t get into it. X-factor is a hot mess, and I still prefer AI and The Voice to all other singing comps.

By: Inigo

12.26.2012 @ 9:49 PM

Dan, I don’t agree with those saying you can’t write – clearly, you can write and well – nor with the view that you watch too much or too little to be able to compile this list based on your opinion. I do, however, find myself disagreeing with you about your assessment of Newsroom. You ask why Sam Waterson’s character can be righteously indignant, but Jeff Daniel’s character sounds like a sanctimonious prat. How many indignant people do you know? Do they all generate the same response in you or do some come off as righteously indignant and others as sanctimonious? I’ve experienced both extremes, sometimes in response to the same person. I’m not sure why in fiction you perceive it as a weakness to find yourself more sympathetic to how Charlie expresses himself than how Will does. I’m also not aware of any direct relationship between adoption of modern technology and morals/journalistic ethics either, so I’m hard pressed to see how characters playing professional journalists have to be steeped in one to be able to consider and be thoughtful of the other, that other being something in existence their entire profession lives. My own exposure to modern technology has taught me precious little about ethics.

Finally is the biggest problem for me and on a much wider scale than Newsroom because it seems to be an increasingly common element of modern TV criticism, as if all online reviews went to the same Gender/Race Studies 101 course in the late 80s. Staying with Newsroom, however, I am referring to your comments about the female characters. This is on the assumption that your writing did, unusually, let you down in saying “making talented pros like Emily Mortimer and Alison Pill look like stumbling, bumbling, awkward fools” and that you meant that the characters, not the actresses, were made to look foolish.

I don’t think, want or understand why all female characters on TV need to be standard-bearers or role-models, why female characters can’t be amazing in some things and total klutzes in other things (which describes pretty much everybody I know, male or female), or even total klutzes, or why writing characters (who aren’t white males) this way is demeaning or offensive or, returning to your piece, that they are so written is a valid criticism in and of itself. So, back to you, Dan; why is it that “making talented pros like Emily Mortimer and Alison Pill look like stumbling, bumbling, awkward fools” makes for bad TV?

By: dan

12.26.2012 @ 10:32 PM

Inigo – Some folks clearly love “Newroom.” It’s totally OK to disagree. I disagree with your disagreement on my points! And that’s fine. I think, for example, that when you go back to the pilot and hear the things that we learned about Emily Mortimer’s character, she was NEVER the person she was described as for a single second. Similarly, characters constantly praise Alison Pill’s character, as it that off-sets that what we *see* her do is mostly inept. Actions speak louder than exposition. The exposition has respect for all of the female characters. The action has no respect for any of them. The exposition about Will McAvoy similarly never aligned to the character we met and saw in action and deed and yet he still gets a position of dramatic superiority in almost every debate or argument. It’s condescending. But if you don’t feel condescended toward, that’s nifty. I do, but therein lies a point of disagreement.

And the tech stuff is ridiculous. That Will doesn’t know how to blog or tweet is one thing. That other characters don’t know what “reply all” and different online abbreviations stand for is another. But while it’s completely plausible that people would lack these skills, that major plotpoints hinge on them is ONLY about Aaron Sorkin’s issues with technology.

Anyway… I’ll be watching “Newsroom” again this summer. And if it gets better, I won’t hesitate to admit it, any more than I didn’t hesitate to admit the dramatic improvement from “Dexter,” which was at the bottom of my Worst list last year…

-Daniel

By: Matthew

12.26.2012 @ 10:10 PM

I’m glad I decided to jump ship on True Blood and HIMYM.

I really liked the first two seasons of True Blood, and only liked parts of three and watched the 4th out of hope it would become good again. But it seems like I made the right choice, the only question is. Can True Blood really turn it around, or has Alan Ball already put too much of a stank on it from the past three seasons?

With HIMYM I just couldn’t do it anymore. It is just ridiculous that they keep dragging the mother out, and then the dragging out of the Robin Barney plot was also extremely annoying. It really is a shame, it was one of my favorite shows for a long time, and I thought season 7 had a fantastic season finale(even if Ted hooked up with Victoria), but after the 8th season premiere, it just pissed me off so much. Them finally giving confirmation of the Barney and Robin wedding, only to undermine the next second to show both of them had cold feet like Victoria? F*ck Off. They always have to drag everything out so long that you just lose your interest. There is nothing worse than stalling, and it is extremely lazy because they don’t want to have to come up with anything new, they just want to keep stringing along the viewers with the same damn plotlines. I’m at the point to where I don’t even think I will watch the series finale(whenever that will be, probably 2027). I will just look up a picture of the actress who plays the mother, go oh okay, and then finally move on from this show.

Anyway Dan, keep up the good work, and don’t let negative people get to you, they clearly can’t read or don’t like it when no one thinks the same way as them!

By: dan

12.26.2012 @ 10:33 PM

Matthew – Given that Alan Ball has been involved with the show’s full decline, changing showrunners could totally improve things, potentially dramatically. But that’s a hypothetical, since the guy who’s taking over has been involved with the show for a few years, so he could be intrenched within the problem…

I’ll still watch!

-Daniel

By: Matthew

12.26.2012 @ 11:02 PM

I know you said it was a hypothetical, but can you think of any examples where a new showrunner came in and actually dramatically turned things around in a good way? At least for a show this far into “bad” territory?

I guess there is TWD, but I don’t think it was that far into bad Territory and when the new showrunner took over they were only 12 episodes at that point.

And for your sake, I do hope it does get better.

By: dan

12.26.2012 @ 11:25 PM

Matthew – I do think that “Walking Dead” still counts, though. I *think* that “Dexter” had a new showrunner this year, though almost all of the key components were identical, so that was a weird fluke. I’m… sure there are other examples. I’m just… sleepy…

-Daniel

By: HISLOCAL

12.31.2012 @ 6:10 PM

I’ll give True Blood a shot next summer to see if a new showrunner turns it around, but dear lord………I honestly can’t think of a worse plummet in TV history. The first season was incredibly good, and the second was very good too. Then it just went off the rails, with werewolves, werepanthers, ghosts, mediums, fairy nightclubs……..EVERY character is supernatural now. Every single one. And of course they’re all embroiled in middle-school love triangles with each other. Not to mention the overall decline in plotting, dialogue, etc.

Do you think the success of Twilight made them veer towards tween crap instead of a serious adult vampire drama?

By: Joyeful

12.26.2012 @ 11:07 PM

You know, if everyone made a new year’s resolution not to insult people on the Internet, I actually think the world would be a little bit of a happier place. Seriously, what’s the point?

Anyway, moving on to the list. My favourite mention was the 2012 Olympics. Mostly because I watched from Canada. Our coverage was live, and I couldn’t believe that you guys had a delay on the closing ceremony – AND a sitcom in the middle of it.

To the actual shows – the only one on the list that I watch is HIMYM. While I totally agree with how much the show has fallen from what it used to be, I’m not sure if it belongs on a worst list. I think the last episode – the one with Barney’s proposal to Robin – helped restore a little (just a little) faith in the writers. I actually think Ted’s been one of the stronger characters this season; he’s been written much better than the other four. And I honestly LOVE Patrice.

By: Lisa

12.26.2012 @ 11:21 PM

I think my new years’s resolutions is going to be not to read anymore comments. I know I’ll be a lot happier

Really people, have enough confidence in your opinion that you don’t get upset when someone insults something you like.

By: Phil

12.27.2012 @ 3:11 AM

Dan – It seems pretty obvious here that some people are just rewriting their angry rants at you with different names. Well written as always and, above all, your opinions.

By: JB

12.27.2012 @ 3:22 AM

Newsroom? One of the worst? Dude, are you smoking crack?

By: jim

12.27.2012 @ 2:00 PM

Your views are yours but I have to disagree with the Newsroom, loved it can`t wait for it to come back.

By: Lloyd

12.29.2012 @ 10:13 PM

Dan, there are obviously people here who are posting under more than one name, to make it seem as if their opinion (which is made known in a very rude manner) is more relevant than it is. Don’t let it get to you. Everyone who follows your blog and listens to you on the podcast can see you’re very intelligent and knowledgeable about all things television, and you always articulate your opinions very well and have valid arguments to back them up. Ever since i’ve found Hit Fix, it has been my favorite source for TV reviews/news/etc. thanks to you and Alan, you both do a fabulous job.

By: Minnie

12.30.2012 @ 3:40 AM

Holy photoshop in that Kat McPhee photo! I know armpits can look akward in pictures, but there’s no need to airbrush it entirely!

By: zero

12.30.2012 @ 2:41 PM

Agree with the choices and criteria of inclusion, but shows like Glee or GG has ever been good?
I always found True Blood a cheesy, badly written, with bad dialogues mess, but at least it has good directing. And that’s a plus. A huge plus. Having said that, the show is better on mute.

I actually never got how the same person who did Six Feet Under could come up with this stuff.